Bischof Föhn Architekten

Description

The Manegg primary school in Zurich’s Wollishofen district has seen an increased demand for kindergarten spaces. As the 1930s facility cannot be expanded, it was decided to repurpose the city-owned workshop's dilapidated rental apartments on Mööslistrasse into a kindergarten with daycare and lunch facilities. The small apartment interiors were restructured with steel beams to create larger rooms for kindergarten classes, a lounge, a group room and a cloakroom. This renovation project is a pioneering example of circular economy, aligning with the city’s net-zero emissions goal. It reused many components and preserved existing elements from the former apartments. Reused items included the canopy structure, external stairs, railings, planters, the steel shading structure, various steel beams, wooden supports, fire doors, acoustic elements, sanitary fixtures, and a kitchen. A bold colour scheme visually unifies the diverse reused materials in the interior. Compared to conventional renovations using entirely new materials, this pilot project with reused components achieved a 30 per cent reduction in embodied emissions (CO₂e/m²a).